As we all know, social media and other outlets have become a huge means of drawing in interaction and viewers for WWE. Most people will point to television ratings like they did during the Monday Night Wars in the late 1990’s, however that can be skewed with so many various means of watching today that do not include cable television.

As you’ve become accustomed to, here is this week’s SmackDown Live YouTube Report (2:30 PM EST, 5/3/18):

1. Shinsuke Nakamura sneak attacks WWE Champion AJ Styles – 1 million views
2. MizTV with Randy Orton & United States Champion Jeff Hardy – 989k views
3. Big Cass’ tirade on Little Daniel Bryan – 863k views
4. Orton & Hardy vs. The Miz & Shelton Benjamin – 840k views
5. Charlotte, Asuka & Becky Lynch vs. SD Women’s Champ Carmella & The IIconics – 713k views
6. Paige welcomes Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville to SmackDown Live -620k views
7. Paige Announces WWE Title Match stipulation at Backlash – 444k views

Coming in at the top spot is SmackDown Live’s (arguably) most interesting angle, which features one of the company’s top money makers in AJ Styles. The WWE Championship is involved, there’s been general interest in Nakamura’s heel turn…and did I mention AJ Styles? Nothing surprising here.

The second and fourth positions are occupied by name value, as well as mainstream appeal. Randy Orton is still one of the faces of the company and Jeff Hardy is a name people will always remember from the Attitude Era. Couple that with The Miz, who WWE has used almost as a medium with Hollywood circles for years, you’re going to get some solid numbers every time. Shelton Benjamin reaps the benefits of that this week.

Number three may seem odd as Big Cass is definitely not considered mainstream or a “name”, but the segment that involved making fun of Daniel Bryan (who gives you both) seems to give the seven-footer the proverbial “YouTube rub” if you want to call it that.

The last three positions go to the women of SmackDown Live with the main event of the show fifth, followed by two separate segments involving General Manager Paige. Much like I would explain recent jumps in views for anything involving The Usos with Naomi, we can’t forget that Paige was a member of the Total Divas cast (and will be again), which is assuredly the reason for cracking 400k. At least for number six anyways. Number seven can also be explained by her speaking about who? The same two men who are in the number one slot.

One thing I’d like to note is how low the segment with Rusev and Lana was in terms of views. It was only a backstage segment, but they only drew 314k, putting them even below Xavier Woods vs. Sheamus. While hardcore fans seem to still clamor for Rusev Day, it does not appear as if the masses feel the same.

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